Divide & Conquer: The Aftermath
by musical-aven
Summary: After the events in Divide & Conquer, Jack goes to Sam at the end of an intense day.


Disclaimer: Stargate and its characters don't belong to me. This story has been written for fun only, not for money.

Spoilers: Big one for Divide & Conquer (season 4)

Summary: After the events in Divide & Conquer, Jack goes to Sam at the end of an intense day.

Author's note: Again, this fic was written the same day as "The Corridor" (not a sequel but both are D&C related stories!). Let's say that this episode stuck into my mind for a long time. After rewatching it lately, and picking up fanfictions again, I had to see where this would lead if I sat down and wrote. So there it is!

Feedback: I always love to have feedbacks on my work so I can improve my writing. Any advice, constructive comments and suggestions are welcomed. Thanks!

 **Divide & Conquer: The Aftermath**

 **By musical-Aven**

Jack hesitated when he arrived at her lab. It was late, but he knew she'd be in there, working to keep her mind off things…a lot of "things" happened today…he needed to know she was alright, that *they* were alright.

The lab was dark, except for the light on her desk. He was surprised to see her sitting at her desk, not fiddling with some reactor or something. She was staring blankly at her computer. Her gaze was empty. She looked tired and he knew she'd been crying. She didn't seem to notice his presence so he took another step and spoke softly.

"- Hey."

She looked at him but didn't seem startled, as if she'd be expecting him. She sat straighter.

"- Sir." She acknowledged.

He stopped as he reached her desk. Hands in his pockets, he tried to reach out with small talk.

"- So…intense day, huh?"

She looked afraid for a moment. Sam didn't really want to talk about today. Was it really the reason he was here? Jack O'Neill and talk about this…weird…emotional…day? Then, she sighed, shoulders dropping, if he wanted to talk about this, she wouldn't be able to stop him anyway.

"- Yeah." she settled for a short, evasive answer.

He bent over the table, opposite from her, elbows under him for support. He picked up something from her desk to keep his hands occupied. Sam knew he was uncomfortable. He looked opened, vulnerable. Sam wasn't used to see him like this. Not sure why he came to her, she waited for his to speak.

"- I'm sorry about Martouf."

He seemed sincere. She knew he didn't really like the Tok'Ra. But again, something told her he wasn't sorry for the Tok'Ra but for her.

"- Thanks."

He continued.

"- How...the Jolinar's stuff…" he asked, not really knowing how.

She smiled a little. Leave it to Jack O'Neill to ask her how she felt after she killed her boyfriend's ex-symbiote.

"- I'm okay. I know I'm mourning for the both of us. It's hard…and confusing…but I kind of expected it when it happened, so it's not so…" she had trouble finding her words.

"- …freaking you out?" he tried with an innocent look.

Jack really could not imagine what it would feel like. Mourning someone so deeply when you know that connexion wasn't yours. She seemed calm with it and he commanded her for it. She smiled.

"- Yeah, I guess."

He nodded and returned to play with what he had picked up from her desk. Silence came over them. The longest it lasted, the more nervous Sam got. She knew he wasn't finished. She knew what the next subject would be. They had to talk about it, even though they "left it in the room", they had to make sure they were okay to continue their work, continue SG-1. Sam shifted which seemed to give Jack the courage to ask the dreaded questions.

"- About the other stuff…are we okay?" he didn't look at her.

His eyes were fixated on the object in his hands and Sam's eyes were too. Much easier that way. She wasn't sure what to say. Were they okay knowing that the other had feeling for them? Would they be okay in the field? During near-death missions? Sam wasn't sure, but of course would not let her CO down. As a good 2IC, she replied, with some shaky confidence:

"- Yes, sir."

He looked up to her eyes. She meet his gaze. For a few moments, Jack tried to see if she was sincere in her answer. He wasn't even sure he thought they were okay on his end. She didn't back down from his gaze so he assumed that she meant what she said. They were good officers. They would be able to control their feelings in the field. Right?

Jack nodded.

"- Okay."

He stood up, stayed close to the table. Now he was going to tell her why he came to see her in the first place. Not a conversation he wanted to have, but it was needed.

"- I'm going up to see Hammond." He still had the object in his hands.

Sam panicked.

"- Why?!"

They were going to be okay, weren't they? Did Jack decide that they needed to report this? For one of them to leave SG-1?

"- Anise submitted her report. Apparently someone didn't tell her to leave some…parts…out of it." He explained.

Sam's heart skipped a beat. What did she write? Surely it wasn't a transcript of their testimony?!

"- That bad?" Sam hoped it wasn't and that the Colonel was just doing this as a precaution.

"- Pretty explicit, yeah…" he winced. "Something about the two of us 'having inappropriate feelings which almost led to non-necessary deaths during a mission'." He finished with air quotes.

"- Crap…" she exhaled. _What was Anise thinking?!_

"- Pretty much what I said too when I saw it!" he seemed agitated, and then calmed himself. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure Hammond will let me tweak the report before it's submitted. The Airforce doesn't need to know the details."

She looked at him with big eyes. If this spread, both their careers would be over. But then again, if the Colonel was caught tampering an official report, he would be out for sure. She knew there was no point in telling him this, he knew and he was taking the chance for both of them.

She nodded. And then she thought about what Anise wrote. "…which almost led to non-necessary deaths during a mission". Was that really what happened? They let their feelings in the way which put them in more danger? Sam thought that they were able to control this in the future, but what if they weren't and it caused the failure of a mission? What if they made in-battle-decisions based on their feelings? Would they be able not to?

Jack saw her start to think. Think too much. He was about to tell her to stop when she talked.

"- Sir…what if it happens again?"

He knew what she was asking.

"- It won't." he replied, a little bit too fast, they both knew.

They looked at each other. Asking the silent question. Sam concluded.

"- It can't."

Jack took a moment.

"- I know." He replied softly.

They both knew what they were saying. No more emotion-driven decisions in the field. Just, rational decisions, team decisions, soldiers-decisions, airforce-decisions.

"- Okay." Sam agreed.

"- Okay." Jack confirmed.

Jack nodded and put down the thing from his hand before leaving her in the dark of her lab. They were going to be okay. They _had_ to.

The end!

Hope you enjoyed, please review!

Copyright musical-Aven 2016


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